Lewis Hamilton was fastest during the first of the Formula 1 in-season Bahrain test. Antonio Giovinazzi was second. The Italian was driving for Ferrari, while Sebastian Vettel made tests for tyre supplier Pirelli. Daniel Ricciardo with Red Bull was third in the standings.
“Today was tricky with it being so hot and very gusty but we still managed to get through plenty of work. Our focus was on advancing our understanding of the tyres and also the rear of the car so that we can improve our long runs – particularly during the race and on the SuperSoft compound. We came here with a specific goal, so it was positive to get on top of that with the team. Sochi is a smoother track and less abrasive on the tyres, so they can go quite a long way. Hopefully we can rely on the pace of our car there rather than our use of the tyres”, Lewis Hamilton explained.
Giovinazzi was happy to drive for Ferrari – the feeling was very special about the Italian driver.
“I enjoyed every single lap”, he said. “To drive the car that won the last race and is leading the world championship, working with the Scuderia Ferrari engineers and mechanics, is not just a great feeling, it’s a dream I’ve had since I was little and racing in karts. And today it came true.”
Commenting on his morning in the car, Daniel Ricciardo said: “It was a good outing for the aero department – we did a lot of data gathering in the first hour, which all went to plan, and that’s important for the guys, even though for a driver it’s not the most thrilling thing, as you’re just trundling around really! After that we did a few runs on the soft tyre and made a few mechanical changes, which were interesting, we then completed a couple of runs on the supersoft. I think we discovered a few things there. You do try some bigger set-up steps than you might do on a race weekend and it was interesting to see what the results of those changes were. We were planning a few long runs in the afternoon but obviously the power unit issue prevented that.”
Day 1 results:
| 1. | L. Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:31.358 | 89 / 97 |
| 2. | A. Giovinazzi | Ferrari | 1:31.984 | 91 / 93 |
| 3. | D. Ricciardo | Red Bull | 1:32.349 | 42 / 45 |
| 4. | R. Grosjean | Haas | 1:32.452 | 71 / 87 |
| 5. | F. Massa | Williams | 1:32.509 | 31 / 56 |
| 6. | N. Hulkenberg | Renault | 1:33.624 | 25 / 74 |
| 7. | L. Stroll | Williams | 1:33.729 | 31 / 35 |
| 8. | S. Gelael | Toro Rosso | 1:33.885 | 69 / 78 |
| 9. | S. Vettel | Pirelli | 1:33.894 | 81 / 89 |
| 10. | A. Celis Jr | Force India | 1:33.939 | 64 / 71 |
| 11. | M. Ericsson | Sauber | 1:34.550 | 92 / 106 |
| 12. | O. Turvey | McLaren | 1:35.011 | 13 / 17 |
.@LewisHamilton: “Today was tricky with it being so hot and very gusty but we still managed to get through plenty of work.” #F1Testing pic.twitter.com/YifLkboBZ2
— Mercedes-AMG F1 (@MercedesAMGF1) 18 April 2017
